Today’s prize is an Aion Elyos hamper, courtesy of Megarom Interactive, as well as a customised Xpad from Xpad.

Included in the hamper is a copy of the game with 30 days playtime included; an Elyos white T-shirt (size large only); an Aion cap; an Aion pen and notepad.

The Xpad can be customised with any text you choose.

To stand a chance to win this fantastic prize, either send an email to comps@nag.co.za with the subject line NAG Online – 24 Days of Giving – Day 22, with your nameand physical address, or simply comment underneath this post and we’ll contact you should you win (via the email address that you used to sign up). Should you choose to ent­er by commenting, you’ll additionally be eligible to win a USB flash drive courtesy of Corex.

Please note that this competition is open to South African residents only and will close at midnight tonight. Winners will be randomly drawn and no correspondence or promises of cookies will be entered into. All winners will be drawn on the 4th of January and contacted shortly afterwards. You may enter each day’s competition once only, and may enter the competition as a whole up to 24 times.

Confused? Click here to read about the competition, why we’re doing it and why you should care.

This is one of those games that you’ve daydreamt about, but resigned yourself to the fact that it would never happen. This time, however, it actually has happened: Poker Night at the Inventory should not exist, but it does. It’s simple: you play Texas Hold ‘Em with four characters from different franchises: Max (from Sam & Max), Strong Bad (from Homestar Runner), The Heavy (from Team Fortress 2) and Tycho (from Penny Arcade).

Poker Night at the Inventory is an excuse to get an unrelated set of characters together to watch them interact in a social setting. At the heart of it, all you’re doing is playing poker on a PC, but while you’re doing that you get to listen in on conversations between characters that up until now have been reserved for shoddy fan-fiction. The banter thrown about during each hand of cards is what makes this a great poker game. Ever wonder what Strong Bad would say to Tycho after losing to him? Or what advice The Heavy would give to Max regarding his next weapons purchase? Poker Night at the Inventory provides insight into all of these unlikely setups, and allows characters to say things like, “It’s like spotting a solo lvl 5 on a PVP server and then rolling in on your flying mount, only to realize that he’s being escorted by a cadre of stealthed level 80 rogues. Am-I-right?” when they win a hand.

There are different conversation sets to choose from in the option menu (“Chewin’ the Fat”, “Idle chit chat” etc) presumably so that you’re not subjected to the same conversation loops over and over. Unfortunately it doesn’t really work as you’ll hear repeat sentences and discussions at least a few times during tournaments. As players are eliminated they leave the table. Ideally you want to be left at the table with a character you find amusing because one-on-one stalemates become tedious very quickly if you have to listen to the same one-liners for ages. I was stuck playing Tycho for about half an hour and during that time my opinion that he is a colossal douche bag of a character was firmly cemented. Strong Bad, however, amuses me to no end so the converse applies.

Winning tournaments allows you to unlock new decks of cards and themed card tables. On top of these unlocks, on occasion each of the four characters will offer up an item as collateral instead of buying into the tournament. If you are able to knock that character out, you’ll unlock that item to use in Team Fortress 2. Quite a neat little cross-over if you ask me.

Poker Night at the Inventory is a poker game that has been made for geeks and gamers whether you know how to play poker or not. For those who have no clue, the game offers a very easy to follow tutorial as well as a list of winning hands that’s always available for a peek. There are dozens of allusions to all sorts of videogames, underhanded quips aimed at the second-hand games market: Magic the Gathering, Pokemon references and Star Wars quotes. This really is a geek’s wet dream insofar as poker games go, and for only $4.95 (less than R40) there really is no reason not to give it a try. The download isn’t that big either; only 240MB.

Hopefully this is the first of many poker games with character cross-overs. I’d love to see one with Murray the Evil Demonic Skull, Kratos, Nathan Drake and Marcus Fenix, but I think that one will remain a daydream.

The NETGEAR N300 Wireless Gigabit Router is ideal for both professional and personal Internet use, providing Gigabit for ultra-fast wired connections and Wireless-N for better wireless speed and range. Storage for downloads is easy with ReadySHARE™ for shared access to a USB storage device. In addition, this router supports open source for Linux developers and open-source enthusiasts.

To stand a chance to win this fantastic prize, either send an email to comps@nag.co.za with the subject line NAG Online – 24 Days of Giving – Day 21, with your nameand physical address, or simply comment underneath this post and we’ll contact you should you win (via the email address that you used to sign up). Should you choose to ent­er by commenting, you’ll additionally be eligible to win a USB flash drive courtesy of Corex.

Please note that this competition is open to South African residents only and will close at midnight tonight. Winners will be randomly drawn and no correspondence or promises of cookies will be entered into. All winners will be drawn on the 4th of January and contacted shortly afterwards. You may enter each day’s competition once only, and may enter the competition as a whole up to 24 times.

Confused? Click here to read about the competition, why we’re doing it and why you should care.

In keeping with their promise of releasing one big patch every month, the first of many is here. Weighing in at 600MB:

Seasonal Events: [Seasonal Events] has been added to the upper left of the [GT Mode] – [GT Life] screen. From here you can participate in official events being held for a limited time. In these events, all participants are under the same regulations, and if you complete the event you will win rewards and experience. Compete on the leader boards with players around the world, in Time Trials and Drift Trials!

Hot Car Dealer: A [Hot Car Dealer] has been added to the left center of the [GT Mode]-[GT Life] screen. In the Hot Car Dealer you’ll find popular and rare used cars.You might just come across that one car you’ve always been looking for, that you haven’t been able to find in the [Used Car Dealer]

Online Race Rewards and Experience: When you complete a race in the [Open Lobby] or [My Lounge], you will now gain rewards and experience. Even if you are focused more on playing online, you’ll still be able to gain rewards and levels that you need to progress in [GT Life].

Driving Distance and Number of Wins in Online Races: The driving distance and the number of wins you achieve when you complete a race in [Open Lobby] or [My Lounge] will now affect your stats in [Profile] and the [Garage]. Here again the results from your online play will cumulate within [GT Life]

Improved Rewards: The rewards for winning races in both A-Spec and B-Spec in [GT Mode]-[GT Life] have been increased for a limited time. (Until the end of January, 2011).

Ho ho ho and all that stuff – it’s time for the January issue of NAG! No more socks and deodorant packs for you; this holiday issue is filled with stuff you actually want. We’ll give you all the details we possibly can on the upcoming Dead Space 2; we check out The Last Guardian and we’ll tell you what matters in the world of gaming keyboards.

Our reviews are just what you need to convince those gift-givers (possibly yourself) that your Need for Speed is Hotter than ever; that your Brotherhood has been Assassinated; that your Stone is Bloody for the new James Bond; that your Front Mission hasn’t really Evolved; and that your New Vegas hasn’t succumbed to the Fallout just yet. Hey; give me a break; these are my holiday puns. My brain is still on leave.

When you’re done breaking the bank on all the awesome titles available right now, perhaps you’ll need to take out a loan to afford all the fantastic hardware you know you need. We review the Roccat Kone[+], the ASUS ENGTX580, the SAPPHIRE HD 6850 TOXIC Crossfire, the Corsair AX750 and tons more.

If my (currently on-leave) sources are correct, you should expect to see the January issue of NAG on sale on Friday the 24th of Decemeber.

It’s December so there is a glut of new games for many to sink their teeth into. I’m certain that most gamers could quite happily spend their entire December break playing non-stop for weeks on end. Most of the new titles demand dedication, time and commitment, but what if you just want to vegetate for a little bit? You know, kick back and play a smaller game for an hour or so? If you’re looking for bite-sized gaming fixes, then this article will hopefully have you covered as we take a look at three downloadable games: one Xbox 360 exclusive, one PlayStation 3 exclusive and one available on both consoles as well as PC.

ilomilo

[quote]

The moment you start ilomilo you run the risk of a stroke set on by the amount of cute that the developers have managed to ladle all over this game. The character design, art direction and musical score all exude charm, and if you don’t take delight in it all then it’s highly likely that you’ve lost some basic human functionality somewhere along the line.

ilomilo is a puzzle game and a fairly unique one at that. The object of each level is to re-unite ilo and milo by navigating blocky walk-ways that hover in midair. You can switch between either of the two little stitched-together friends at any time and each level requires some teamwork in order to complete. You’re able to pick up various blocks that have unique capabilities in order to solve the levels. Some blocks are simply movable platforms you can use to plug holes or build little bridges, but others do far more, like house trapdoors that flip either ilo or milo upside down so as to gain access to the underside of a level. Another block has little wings and acts as a lift to elevate ilo and milo to higher places. Where things get tricky, however, is when you realise that the levels essentially don’t have an “up” or “down” to them so while the winged block might act as a lift at one perspective, it could be acting as a horizontal transport block from another perspective. Prepare to have your mind boggled.

While you’ll blaze through the first two worlds, the later parts of the game get extremely tricky as more and more blocks with new capabilities are added to the mix. Each world has a unique style and they’re all equally appealing from the material and stitching first world to the cardboard and crayons of a later world. There’s a definite child-like quality to the look of the game, but do not be fooled by the appearance: this game gets difficult as hell towards the end. The music is also fantastic and it’s likely you’ll be humming the theme tune for days.

On top of the standard worlds and their levels, there are three bonus levels to unlock in each world. The bonus levels feature cameo appearances from various indie games like World of Goo and Super Meat Boy. There are galleries and music tracks to unlock in each level as well as three little blokes called Safkas that need to be retrieved in order to unlock the before-mentioned bonus levels; for completionists and OCD gamers there is a lot to keep you busy.

The UnderGarden

[quote2]

When it comes to the amount of grey matter required, The UnderGarden is almost the complete opposite of ilomilo. This game is not meant to challenge you and it is not meant to make you think; all it wants you to do is zone out and float through underground (or is it underwater?) caves while growing a vast array of mushrooms, plants and flowers. It’s not unlike thatgamecompany’s Flower in a sense that the The UnderGarden is supposed to make you relax by getting you to grow colourful plants.

Your task is simple: navigate a wiggly little horned creature through a series of caves by collecting pollen to use to grow the multitude of dormant flora. Once enough plant life has been goaded into existence, portals will open that allow you to finish the level. On the way you’ll come across tiny physics-based puzzles that mostly require you to weight down pressure pads to open doorways. You’ll also come across various little characters playing musical instruments. You can tether these guys to you and the tune that they play will begin altering the level’s ambient music. You’re free to tether multiple musicians to your character so as to create an entire ensemble that all blends rather nicely. Additionally, the musicians that you drag along, you are told, are capable of re-growing the plants you have already flowered. The point of this, however, is never really explained at all and all it seems to do is alternate the colour of whatever it is you’ve already propagated.

Naturally there are things hidden in the levels that you’ll need to collect if you want to score some achievements and trophies. You’re also given a percentage for the amount of plants you managed to grow on each level. Achieving 100% growth for a level is not too difficult, and you can track your progress as you float about a cave by looking at a meter on the bottom right of the screen.

The UnderGarden is very pretty to look at and at times you will be reminded of that iconic scene from Avatar when Jake meets Neytiri for the first time and the whole forest lights up with iridescent blues. Despite the eye-candy, the game gets a little dull after a few hours. You’re essentially doing the same thing level after level so unless you’re in need of some serious relaxation time (which is nothing a few amphetamines and a gin and tonic couldn’t fix anyway) you’re going to get bored pretty quickly. On top of that the collision detection is frustrating and you will often find you’re unable to squeeze your creature through a particular crevice. Even worse is when you have to drag three musicians and a whole lot of fruit through a narrow opening; guaranteed you will get stuck and be forced to unleash everything and move it all through one at a time. And here I was thinking this game was meant to relax one; having to do this umpteen times a level does the complete opposite.

Unless you’re desperately looking for something to dwax-out to and you want to sit on a couch glazed over and looking as if you’ve just come down from a four-day marijuana binge, then I would give this one a skip. There are lots of other games that are more deserving of your attention.

We’ve gone from the hyper cute ilomilo to Vitamin G’s very pretty The UnderGarden so what this review round-up needs is some serious testosterone. What better way to achieve that than through thousands of zombies, tons of weapons and bucket-loads of blood, guts and pus?

Zombies again, huh? I’ll admit they’re starting to get a little passé but Dead Nation is a top-down, twin-stick shooter that gets a lot of things right. Think of it as Left 4 Dead meets Super Stardust HD. In fact, the game borrows quite a bit from Valve’s shooter: there are fat, Boomer-like zombies; car alarms that attract the hordes away from you; and zombies will clamber on top of thrown grenades in a sort of schoolyard pile-on only to be blown into millions of mushy bits.

There’s a typical zombie-apocalypse story weaved throughout the levels, but the only thing it really does is supply a reason for the areas of the city that you find yourself in. You can play as one of two characters and the game features two-player co-op both locally and online. Local co-op is huge amounts of fun and I had the chance to play through the first few levels with a friend of mine. She’s fairly new to gaming and had never played a twin-stick shooter before, but after getting through the first stage she was head-shotting zombies without a problem and giggling gleefully as their craniums erupted in fountains of blood, pink mush and bits of skull.

The game is definitely accessible and outrageously addictive with good pacing insofar as weapon access is concerned. Completing a level unlocks a new weapon which can be purchased at any of the numerous checkpoints found in each stage. All of the weapons can be upgraded in various ways making that hard-earned cash extra important if you hope to survive increasingly larger waves of the undead.

What will strike you is just how detailed the game’s environments are. The lighting is stunning as is the level of decay and destruction of the urban surrounds. What’s more, the zombies you find in a particular area shed light on the preceding events. For example: you may come across a cashed high school football team bus; you’ll then be set upon by the zombie remains of the team with their cheerleader counterparts also shambling after your delicious brains. It’s the little touches like that which elevate the game from typical downloadable schlock to a highly polished title brimming with production value.

Finally, just to add to the impression of a worldwide zombie apocalypse, the game tracks zombie kills per country across the world in real-time. You can browse through a list of all of the countries in which Dead Nation is available, and the total kills and number of players per country are shown. Obviously, USA is leading in the undead genocide; South Africa seems to hover around the 28th and 31st position. It’s a neat little addition, and there’s something macabrely satisfying in watching the numbers alongside the various countries racking up without a shred of remorse.

i.Glow for PS2 was designed to electrify your gaming experience while offering the comfort your gaming requires. Each i.Glow wireless controller features dual glowing motors, internalglowing LEDs and custom paint.

In addition, we’re also giving away an Ergo-tilt notebook riser.

It is designed and manufactured in South Africa, absolutely unique and boasts more features than any of its competitors:

The Ventilation design allows cool air to circulate underneath the laptop, without noisy, energy consuming fans. This reduces wear and tear on the laptop processor, keeps the speed on the up and up, ultimately prolonging the laptop’s lifespan

The Ergonomic design and angle of the ‘tilt’ eases stress on the back, neck, shoulders and wrists

Ergo-Tilt®is Lightweight, with an easy closing feature that folds flat, making it ideal for travel

The company and product is Socially Responsible. The packaging has no plastic, is made from recycled materials and hence easily recyclable. Assembly is performed in a sheltered workshop

Ergo-Tilt® boasts a five-year Warranty

To stand a chance to win this fantastic prize, either send an email to comps@nag.co.za with the subject line NAG Online – 24 Days of Giving – Day 20, with your nameand physical address, or simply comment underneath this post and we’ll contact you should you win (via the email address that you used to sign up). Should you choose to ent­er by commenting, you’ll additionally be eligible to win a USB flash drive courtesy of Corex.

Please note that this competition is open to South African residents only and will close at midnight tonight. Winners will be randomly drawn and no correspondence or promises of cookies will be entered into. All winners will be drawn on the 4th of January and contacted shortly afterwards. You may enter each day’s competition once only, and may enter the competition as a whole up to 24 times.

Confused? Click here to read about the competition, why we’re doing it and why you should care.

The SAPPHIRE HD 5770 FleX is the first card available to support three DVI monitors in ATI Eyefinity mode and deliver a true SLS (Single Large Surface) work area without the need for costly DisplayPort monitors or Active adapters. The board can also support up to four simultaneous, independent monitors if you choose to include the use of a DisplayPort monitor or active adapter.

To stand a chance to win this fantastic prize, either send an email to comps@nag.co.za with the subject line NAG Online – 24 Days of Giving – Day 19, with your nameand physical address, or simply comment underneath this post and we’ll contact you should you win (via the email address that you used to sign up). Should you choose to ent­er by commenting, you’ll additionally be eligible to win a USB flash drive courtesy of Corex.

Please note that this competition is open to South African residents only and will close at midnight tonight. Winners will be randomly drawn and no correspondence or promises of cookies will be entered into. All winners will be drawn on the 4th of January and contacted shortly afterwards. You may enter each day’s competition once only, and may enter the competition as a whole up to 24 times.

Confused? Click here to read about the competition, why we’re doing it and why you should care.

The NETGEAR N300 Wireless Gigabit Router is ideal for both professional and personal Internet use, providing Gigabit for ultra-fast wired connections and Wireless-N for better wireless speed and range. Storage for downloads is easy with ReadySHARE™ for shared access to a USB storage device. In addition, this router supports open source for Linux developers and open-source enthusiasts.

To stand a chance to win this fantastic prize, either send an email to comps@nag.co.za with the subject line NAG Online – 24 Days of Giving – Day 18, with your nameand physical address, or simply comment underneath this post and we’ll contact you should you win (via the email address that you used to sign up). Should you choose to ent­er by commenting, you’ll additionally be eligible to win a USB flash drive courtesy of Corex.

Please note that this competition is open to South African residents only and will close at midnight tonight. Winners will be randomly drawn and no correspondence or promises of cookies will be entered into. All winners will be drawn on the 4th of January and contacted shortly afterwards. You may enter each day’s competition once only, and may enter the competition as a whole up to 24 times.

Confused? Click here to read about the competition, why we’re doing it and why you should care.

During 1999, a large part of the gaming market belonged to titles like Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament. Outcast was one of those games that had an unfortunate release window as people’s attention was fixed in other areas. As such, it became one of those “best games you never played” titles that battled to find main-stream acceptance with an audience whose love for multiplayer was steadily taking over.

In Outcast, players take on the role of a former Navy SEAL called Cutter Slade. Scientists have proven the existence of a parallel universe, to which they promptly dispatch a probe that sends back images from the planet of Adelpha. Moments after receiving the images, an alien life form damages the probe releasing a shockwave of energy that opens up a black hole, which threatens Earth’s existence. Slade is called in to escort a team of scientists who are sent to the parallel universe to fix the probe and close the black hole. Naturally, things go pear-shaped and Slade is dumped into the beginnings of a rebellion, which according to local legend, he is supposed to lead. Slade has to travel to each of the six regions of Adelpha in order to locate the five Mons. By reuniting the Mons, he will be able to topple the evil Fae Rhan and bring peace to Adelpha. In return, the Talan (the race of aliens on Adelpha) pledge to help Slade locate and repair the probe to save Earth.

The game is not afraid to poke fun at itself and there are numerous nineties pop culture references to be found.

Outcast is a fairly unique third-person action-adventure game. It is almost open-world as each region of Adelpha is large and will require a lot of traversing. In many ways it’s not unlike an RPG in the way that the plot progresses through finding and completing missions. However, there is very little hand-holding insofar as being told what to do next. It’s up to you to speak to the inhabitants of Adelpha in order to try and understand what needs to be done. Sure, the main objectives get jotted down in a journal which you can refer to whenever you like, but there are no waypoints to follow on maps, no step-by-step mission logs and no “Mission Complete” notifications once you get a task done. You are, quite honestly, on your own on an alien planet. In that regard, the game does a good job of immersing you in the world. You seldom break away from the gameplay to consult maps, journals or an inventory like you would in games like Fallout 3, and that’s because it’s all built into Slade’s equipment. Even the way you save your game has been given a game-world explanation. The planet of Adelpha is highly detailed insofar as language, religion and customs are concerned. Thankfully a lexicon is steadily updated as Slade learns more about the world he is in.

On a technical level, Outcast definitely shows its age, but it can still look beautiful in certain areas. When it first released it caused quite a stir thanks to its use of voxels to map the terrain. In addition, the game has some early examples of depth of field blur and some stunning water reflections with real-time ripples. Sadly, the game’s maximum resolution is 512×384, so it does run in a window on larger monitors. There is a community patch that enables slightly higher resolutions but don’t expect hi-def stuff. There are occasional path-finding issues with the AI and every now and then getting Slade out of water will drive you nuts. These are problems that were apparent back in 1999, but they probably went unnoticed because Outcast was such an immersive and new experience.

You can flip to a first-person perspective whenever you want; it makes gunfights a lot easier.

For those who have never played the game but have always wanted to, then I recommend it, but do bear in mind that it is now more than ten years old. The plot setup is typical sci-fi cheese, but there are numerous twists as the story progresses. The voice-acting is still superb and the phenomenal orchestral soundtrack is surely one of the best in gaming history – there are echoes of John Williams’ Star Wars score in places.

For those who have played the game, then it’s still worth another playthrough even if it’s only for the nostalgia value. Besides, if you played Outcast when it was released you will undoubtedly have a special place for it in your heart.

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